We can Even Judge Angels but Don’t Judge (Edited by ChatGPT)

  

There is an apparent contradiction in the Bible, as it seems to tell us to judge and not to judge at the same time. Yet this is only an apparent, not a real, contradiction, because there are two steps to judgment. There is judgment of sin, and there is judgment of punishment. Even human courts first judge guilty versus not guilty, and then they determine the punishment. The first part of judgment is strictly by the law, but punishment is done in a way that builds and teaches by the law.

 

Many who do not know God but love the world and have a deep heart to tolerate sin love the fact that Jesus did not judge the prostitute. But Jesus did judge her as a sinner; He simply did not condemn her to death by stoning. He was not willing to punish her by the law because nobody was following the law.

 

Many laws of God in the Law of Moses were kept harsh so people would be fearful of breaking them. That is why the law says to do this so others should not repeat it. It makes sense to follow such harsh judgment when all are following the law and bad actions are rare exceptions. When sin is the norm and nobody is following the law, however, enforcing such punishment is like cleaning a mosquito while swallowing a camel. It does not help, as it is just hypocrisy of Pharisees. When sin abounds, grace has to increase often.

 

Take Jesus, who spent much of His time condemning the people who lacked faith and the religious leaders who led them astray. He told them the truth because nobody knew God and nobody was following the law of God. But when they were ready to kill Him and He was marching to Jerusalem, He wept about them because He knew what was coming. He told them they would die in their sin and that all the blood spilled since Abel would be paid by their generation, yet on the cross He prayed for their forgiveness. He came not only with truth to separate light from darkness but also with grace so we can be saved. Judgment has two steps: one is strict and uncompromising, but punishment has to be in a way that builds, not destroys. This is why we should always judge sin. When Jesus sat with sinners, I am sure He was not speaking about the world or what was vogue at the time. He was opening their eyes so they would leave sin behind and join the kingdom of God.

 

One problem of the faithful who like to tolerate sin, however, is our high willingness to cover sin and abomination, and I am sure we think it is for the glory of God. When we see sin, we have to deal with it properly. We are judges of the world, and we can even judge angels — as we know God (Jesus) and judge by Jesus if they step away from the only path that He is — and it is a minor issue to judge the sin of the faithless and even the faithful. We are the government of heaven, and what we enforce is the law of heaven — the word of God. When we enforce the word of God, we do it as servants, not lords, because that is how Jesus did it.

 

So when we see sin, we have to declare it to be sin in order to warn the sinner away from it and to declare God’s judgment if the rebellion does not stop. When we see the prostitute, we should tell her it is sin and that she should not do it again. When we see homosexuals, child killers, thieves, liars, corrupt personalities, criminals, those with unbalanced weight, corrupt judges, corrupt politicians, and all other sins, we should declare that sin is sin.

 

The problem is what happens next. Do we stone the prostitute? Do we hunt and prosecute those with confused personalities like homosexuals? This is where we have to be extra careful in our judgment. Our judgment should build the lost souls and the assembly rather than express crude legalism. This is the age of grace, and we should be graceful and merciful. Yet grace is not for sin and the world but for holiness. We have to do what is necessary for the salvation of all and for holiness of all.

 

Let us say a drug dealer, corrupt politician, untrustworthy businessman, or homosexual comes to church. Do we kick them out? What about giving them a seat of honor and respect? What about saying nothing about corrupt business, corrupt politics, the sin of drug dealing, and the abomination of homosexuality? Imagine Jesus seeing the prostitute and telling her nothing about herself. But do you stone them afterward? You have to move them from sin toward holiness by love, care, and rebuke of faith in order to save them. Yet do you allow the drug dealer to advertise his abomination? What about the unethical businessman expanding his business? What about the corrupt politician marketing himself? What about inappropriate behavior from homosexuals? All sinners should come to the assembly of God by rejecting their sin, and the faithful should help them by love and care. It is all common sense if you have the love of God in you.

 

In this process, if sin is rampant and the identity of the faithful is becoming that of sinners, we should be harsh on sin and cut the cancer before it expands. Before the sickness destroys the body, that cancerous part has to be cut off. This is why Paul insisted that they should separate themselves from the world around them to remain faithful in Corinth. That is why the Lord insisted that Israel should not mix with the people but destroy them all. If Israel had been ready for God, such judgment might not have been needed, but as the people were worshiping idols in Egypt and their hearts were far from God, it became necessary, for the salvation of the faith itself, that all the inhabitants of the land should be killed. When Jesus built His faithful, however, He sent them into the world with love, not a sword.

 

Besides, all sin is not the same. Nobody is holy except God, which means even the angels of God sin. Since we will never be perfect, we will never be sinless, and that is forever, as only God is holy. Yet the imperfection of Angel Michael is not comparable to the abomination of Lucifer. All sin is not equal, and we should identify marginal sin apart from core sin.

 

When Paul preached the gospel of grace through faith, many lost souls fought him with the Law of Moses. Paul tried to teach and explain to them, but his judgment, when they did not listen, was very harsh. He damned them, meaning he judged that they should not join the kingdom of heaven for eternity.

 

Yet some people were told that all food is blessed by God and, unless it was sacrificed to idols (by the rule of Jerusalem), no food is forbidden in the age of grace. Paul made this clear, but he also acknowledged that there were those who were weak in faith and did not want to eat meat, as they believed eating meat was wrong and wanted to enforce it on others. They were wrong by the law of the Spirit, and Paul rightly declared them weak in spirit, but his judgment in practice was in their favor. They were wrong, yet we follow their way — this is Paul’s judgment. Why? To make sure they are not lost due to their ignorance and weak faith. The righteous carry the cross for the sinner, by grace, in the footsteps of Jesus. I give up meat to save them, though I am right and they are wrong by the law of the Spirit.

 

That is why whatever we do in judgment and in refraining from judgment should be done to build the faithful rather than destroy them, to save them rather than condemn them (though sometimes the only way to save Adam is to kick him out of heaven first). Whatever we do should not be based on the legalism of the Pharisees or on an abusive grace that preserves sin and rebellion of this age, but on guiding dead souls to life by faith through grace and growing them into the image of Jesus in word, life, death, and resurrection.

 

In this process we should know that God will judge us too. The way we judge others and the way we measure to others will be measured to us. A cup that is shaken, pressed, and overflowing will be paid to us as well. God holds the sin of the father up to the fourth generation but remembers the faith of the faithful up to a thousand generations, as He respects those who respect Him and dishonors those who dishonor Him. So let us judge and not judge, knowing God is watching and judging us too.

 

If you have a good heart built on the love of God, and if that love is expressed toward the faithful, neighbors, and even enemies, the law of God becomes common sense. That is why love is more important than knowledge, so let us have love first and foremost. Before judgment, your own spiritual growth has to come first. Before you can remove the dirt from your brother’s eye, remove the wood from your own. See rightly first, and that is only possible if God sees through you and you think with the heart of Jesus; then your way will be heavenly.

 

So if we want to heal the assembly, the fight is not with the world, with other assemblies, or even with the devil. Egypt has never been a problem to God. The problem is the Egypt inside us, and that is the Egypt God cannot easily defeat because He loves us. Removing dirt from others is easy because God will do the work as we act as if we matter. The problem is removing the wood from our own eye, removing Egypt from us, and making us sightful — and that is only if we do and say what is the will of God, not our own will. It is when the Lord in heaven is speaking through us, working through us, and His perfection is reflected in us, while we are dead to the world and the flesh as they are to us.

 

If we die and God takes over our life, everything else is easy. Otherwise we may weed here, but our flesh and the devil will plant other weeds, replacing one abomination with another. The Pharisees emphasized the law, but they created the ignorance of legalism that does not know God. That is why they saw God but did not know Him, because they knew the law but not the God who is manifested through the law. They knew the law but not the Spirit and intention of the law. So to change the world is easy, but you have to be changed first. This is why God worked harder in His disciples before and after His death, because the blind cannot lead the blind. Only the Holy Spirit can lead, and the vessels need to be ready for Him.